Necessary Municipal Budget Cuts Have Rumford Selectmen Rethinking Their Current Policy Of Hiring Half The Population To Arrest The Other Half

RUMFORD — Selectmen took the voice of taxpayers who rejected their proposed $8 million municipal budget last week to heart Tuesday night. The board began work at a special meeting to hack out the town’s “new reality,” as Selectman Brad Adley called it. That new reality means job losses in municipal government. Without taking any input from police Chief Stacy Carter on his proposed reduction, Selectmen Chairman Greg Buccina proposed to cut Carter’s budget to $711,355. That was a $106,301 reduction from the department’s budget of $817,656 that failed to pass on June 11. Selectman Jolene Lovejoy and Adley said they thought selectmen were going to listen to department heads propose budget reductions. Buccina said he was going to share his figures, which he then did. Afterwards, Carter was asked to state how that would affect the police level of service. Carter said the department would lose a detective, a dispatcher and a utility officer and greatly reduce the department’s effectiveness at combating drugs. “I understand that, but personally, we need to get a budget that will pass,” Buccina said. “I understand there will be a reduction in manpower, but we need to change the way we do things now.” (read more at Lewiston Sun Journal)